The present invention relates to improvements in machines for cutting or slicing bacon or the like, especially to improvements in machines for removing rinds from slabs of bacon. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in machines of the type wherein the product which is to be relieved of the rind and/or otherwise comminuted is fed into the range of the cutting edge of an adjustable knife by a driven wheel or an analogous traction device.
A skinning machine for bacon, fish and like products with an adjustable knife is disclosed in the commonly owned copending patent application Ser. No. 266,095 filed May 21, 1981 for "Apparatus for slicing bacon or the like", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,519 granted Oct. 11, 1983. Other slicing or skinning machines which embody or can employ adjustable knives are disclosed in the commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,959 granted Nov. 7, 1978 and in the commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,870 granted Feb. 19, 1980.
In presently known skinning or slicing machines for bacon or like products, especially in skinning machines wherein successive slabs of bacon are relieved of rinds by the cutting edge of an adjustable knife which is mounted in or on a holder adjacent to a rotary traction wheel, the holder for the knife is connected with adjusting means portions of which are accessible at the exterior of the housing or frame of the machine and are actuatable to move the knife between an operative position as well as a retracted position in which the knife can be removed from the machine. In certain types of such machines, the knife is further movable to an intermediate position, especially for the removal of the rind, in which its cutting edge is located at a variable distance from the periphery of the traction wheel. Means is provided to bias the knife in a direction toward the traction wheel; this enables the knife to automatically assume an optimum position for removal of the rind from a slab of bacon or the like, i.e., the width of the gap between the cutting edge of the knife and the periphery of the traction wheel is a function of the thickness of the rind and the width of such gap varies in response to changes in the thickness of successive increments of the rind while the slab, which is to be relieved of the rind, is caused to advance through the machine.
A drawback of heretofore known slicing or skinning machines is that the manipulation of the knife from the exterior of the machine frame is rather complex and often confusing, especially to semiskilled or unskilled persons. Moreover, the mechanism for adjusting the knife with reference to the traction wheel (i.e., with reference to the path of movement of slabs of bacon or the like through the machine) is rather bulky, complex and expensive. In many instances, the adjusting means comprises several levers so that the manipulation of such adjusting means by a semiskilled, unskilled or careless person is likely to cause serious injuries (e.g., as a result of reaching into the frame at a time when the knife is set for slicing or skinning of slabs of bacon or the like), damage to parts of the machine, unsatisfactory treatment of slabs and/or prolonged delays with attendant losses in output.
Another drawback of certain presently known slicing or skinning machines is that the knife can be moved to a selected position only by moving it through numerous additional positions, i.e., that the movement of the knife to a selected position cannot be effected at will but only by causing the knife to move through several additional positions prior to reaching the desired or optimum position. For example, if the machine comprises a first lever which must be pivoted to a certain angular position in order to ensure that the knife is ready for removal from the machine frame, a second lever which is used to select the thickness of the rind that is to be separated from one side of a slab must be moved to a predetermined position before the first lever can be actuated with a view to allow for extraction of the knife or vice versa.